I was showing my little sister (three years old) the picture of Mt. Vesuvius, in your last “Museum,” and wishing to find her ideas on the subject, I asked her, “Is that mountain on fire?” “No,” said she. “What makes it smoke then?” said I. “Why,” said she, looking up into my face with a glance I cannot describe—“why, there is a stove in the mountain!”
The following letters tell their own tale; the first is from a very young subscriber.
Hartford, June 1st, 1842.
Mr. Merry:
I have been a reader of your Museum ever since it has been published, and I like it very much. I was quite pleased with the stories of Brusque and the Siberian Sable-Hunter, and should like to see them continued. I was also interested in those stories of Peter Parley’s; and the puzzles have amused me much. I was glad to find so many in the June number.
I have found out three of them, and believe they are correct; the third is Peter Parley, the fifth Wooden Leg, and the sixth Robert Merry.
Mary F.
Newburgh, May 4th, 1842.
Dear Mr. Merry:
I take this opportunity of writing you a few lines, to let you know how I like your Museum. I have taken it for the last year, and I intend to take it as long as it is published, if nothing happens to prevent me. I long to see the rest of the Siberian Sable-Hunter, and Philip Brusque, and Peter Parley’s stories. If the little black and blue-eyed boys and girls only knew how interesting this little book is, they could not help subscribing for it. What boy or girl is there that cannot save one dollar a year? I have asked several of my friends to subscribe for it, and I hope that, before long, I can send some subscribers for Robert Merry’s Museum.